A Blog of morning coffee, political views, and highly subjective perspectives on the world

Wednesday, December 07, 2005

Roma Flower Qeens

Late night in Brussels. These lovely ladies are flower sellers. I cannot be certain since I had not talked with them but something is telling me they are the same that do this for dosens of years in Bucharest. I like the connection. What best buy but a rose in the middle of the night. I used to do that often in B. My favourite spot was the non-stop flower market in Piata Amzei. I remember the feeling. Half past eleven, taxi stops and waits, I step out and then peruse row after row of beautiful flowers. Roses from Peru and tulips and chrysanthemum from Holland. You had to listen to all the sellers trying very hard to grab your attention - the only real equivalent of a souk I found in Romania where, despite the oriental influence in food and else, the markets tend to be a reserved and uninteresting experience. Then I always had to convince the sellers that indeed I want no "fashionable" sparkly wrapping and paper will do. Usually it was a bunch of roses - red most often, or white, sometimes yellow if the mood or the person was right - once in a while margaritas or lilies. That was late night in Bucharest.